News

The leading Democrat on the U.S. House Committee on Education and Workforce says the federal government doesn’t have enough tools to keep coal miners safe.

State government inspectors have been using aerial surveillance to watch coal operators in central Appalachia.

Helicopter flights have cost The Kentucky Division of Mine Reclamation and Enforcement more than $477,000 over the past four years, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.

News of the flyovers surprised mining industry leaders, including Kentucky Coal Association President Bill Bissett, who protested the covert nature of the inspections and questioned their effectiveness.

The Louisville Air Pollution Control District is predicting elevated levels of ozone on Monday, July 16. The Air Quality Index is forecast to be 106, which is unhealthy for sensitive groups. 

This is the 19th Air Quality Alert so far this year. The area has exceeded ozone standards 15 times this summer. For hourly air quality updates, call (502) 574-3319.

The Kentucky Arts Council has awarded more than $600,000 to Jefferson County arts groups for the next fiscal year. The Kentucky Arts Partnership grant is an annual statewide program that funds operational support for nonprofit arts groups. This year, the arts council awarded more than $1.7 million to 104 groups across Kentucky that provide year-round arts programs for the public. 

Rain or shine—thousands of music fans will file through the gates at Waterfront Park for the 10th annual Forecastle Festival this weekend, which is expected to draw the largest crowd in its history.

Thirty-five thousand people are estimated to attend Forecastle through Sunday, according to festival officials. The event features some of the largest names in the music industry including Louisville’s My Morning Jacket, which will headline the festival Sunday night.

A Kentucky coal company has been fined nearly $600,000 by the federal government, stemming from violations that directly contributed to the death of a miner last year.

In June 2011, David Partin was killed at the Manalapan Mining Company’s P-1 Mine in Harlan County. A large section of rock fell from the coal mine’s wall, and knocked him into a dolly.

Federal aid is available for farmers in 1,016 drought-stricken counties across 26 states.

A federal disaster declaration will allow the farmers to apply for low-interest loans and it will reduce the penalties for grazing livestock on land set aside for conservation.

Farmers across the country have been hard-hit by the hot and dry weather that has persisted in many parts of the country since the growing season began.

As WFPL reported on Monday:

The Ladies Professional Golf Association and state government officials are in discussions for the L-P-G-A to bring a tournament to Kentucky.   The talks are still preliminary, but have gone on for months. 

Republican Congressman Todd Young of Indiana has raised $311,000 in the second quarter, according to a report his campaign will file with the Federal Election Commission later this week.

The new report means the freshman lawmaker has more than $893,000 in cash on hand for his re-election bid against Democrat Shelli Yoder. Since winning office in 2010, Young has become a solid fundraiser who has touted a strong conservative message.

"If you look at our numbers over 80 percent of our contributions are coming from individuals and over 80 percent of that are coming from Indiana," says Young campaign manager Trevor Foughty. "What we think that shows is we really have tapped into the pulse of the district and people are buying into our message. It's the private sector and its individual Americans that are going to lead our way out of this recession. It's not a trust in government to spend our way out."

The Louisville Visual Art Association's Open Doors Program will celebrate two years of community-based arts projects with a retrospective exhibit, “Making Art. Changing Lives.”

Twelve art projects, selected from nearly forty pieces of art completed through the program, will be on view to the public in the Water Tower, with an opening reception on July 22. The exhibit will run through August 19.